U.S. patent number 5,503,248 [Application Number 08/223,885] was granted by the patent office on 1996-04-02 for maintaining open loop current drive to linear induction motor.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Otis Elevator Company. Invention is credited to Edward E. Ahigian, David W. Barrett, Thomas He, Jerome F. Jaminet, Thomas M. Kowalczyk, Richard E. Kulak, Thomas M. McHugh, Richard E. Peruggi.
United States Patent |
5,503,248 |
Peruggi , et al. |
April 2, 1996 |
Maintaining open loop current drive to linear induction motor
Abstract
An elevator car door is moved by a variable voltage, variable
frequency linear induction motor which is driven open current loop
to achieve a desired velocity profile indicated by an incremental
linear encoder, with washed out proportional and integral gain. A
magnetizing current insufficient to overcome the weight of the door
is added in quadrature with the linear force current, and frequency
is determined open loop in a predetermined fashion. Pulse width
modulation voltage control signals are utilized to apply fixed
voltages of correct polarity through a low pass three phase filter
to the windings of the motor for correct intervals of time so as to
synthesize desired sinusoidal winding currents. A boost of current
is provided following each zero crossing of the sinusoidal winding
currents to overcome lags therein. A ramp down of voltage avoids
dropping the door at the end of door opening and door closing.
Inventors: |
Peruggi; Richard E.
(Glastonbury, CT), McHugh; Thomas M. (Farmington, CT),
Ahigian; Edward E. (West Hartford, CT), Jaminet; Jerome
F. (South Windsor, CT), He; Thomas (Unionville, CT),
Kowalczyk; Thomas M. (Farmington, CT), Kulak; Richard E.
(Bristol, CT), Barrett; David W. (East Hartland, CT) |
Assignee: |
Otis Elevator Company
(Farmington, CT)
|
Family
ID: |
22838368 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/223,885 |
Filed: |
April 6, 1994 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
187/316; 318/808;
187/287 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B66B
13/143 (20130101); E05F 15/60 (20150115); E05Y
2900/104 (20130101); E05Y 2400/66 (20130101); E05Y
2800/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B66B
13/14 (20060101); E05F 15/00 (20060101); E05F
15/18 (20060101); B66B 013/00 (); B66B
001/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;187/316,296,295,277
;318/808,809,810,811,812 ;49/120,118,117 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wong; Peter S.
Assistant Examiner: Nappi; Robert
Claims
We claim:
1. A method of providing open loop current control to the windings
of a variable voltage, variable frequency linear induction motor
driving an elevator car door, comprising:
producing a control waveform indicative of a sinusoidal current
which must flow in a winding of said linear induction motor to
achieve a predetermined motion of the elevator door;
providing an additional component to said control waveform for a
fraction of a cycle immediately following each zero crossing of
said control waveform; and
connecting said winding to a source of current in response to said
control waveform.
2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said voltage control
waveform is a digitally generated pulse width modulation waveform
indicative of a corresponding sinusoidal waveform.
3. A method according to claim 2 wherein said control waveform
comprises at least 30 digital pulse width periods per cycle of
sinusoidal current, each of said periods having a unique
characteristic pulse width which is different than the
characteristic pulse width of other of said periods; and
said providing step comprises providing said additional component
in several of said periods following a zero crossing of said
sinusoidal waveform.
4. A method according to claim 1 wherein said additional component
has a value corresponding to a magnitude of current in said winding
which is a significant fraction of the maximum peak current which
may flow in said winding as a result of said control waveform.
5. A method according to claim 4 wherein said significant fraction
is on the order of one quarter to two thirds.
6. A method according to claim 1 wherein said control waveform is a
digitally generated pulse width modulation waveform having at least
thirty digital pulse width periods per cycle of sinusoidal current,
and said additional component has a value representing a
significant fraction of the maximum peak current which may flow in
said winding in response to said control waveform in a first one of
said periods following a zero crossing, and is reduced by the
formula x-n/x in successive cycles thereafter, where x is a number
between 4 and 8 and n is a number of periods by which a period
follows said first period.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to correcting aberrations in linear
induction motor winding current in an open loop fashion, without
current feedback sensors.
BACKGROUND ART
Typical elevator door operating mechanisms, such as that shown in
commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,481, employ a rotary motor which
drives a complex lever mechanism. In attempts to simplify, and
thereby reduce the initial cost, installation, adjustment and
maintenance costs, the use of linear induction motors has been
suggested as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,907 and in commonly owned
copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 029,203 filed Mar. 10,
1993. The use of a linear induction motor eliminates the need for
any mechanical parts other than an electrically conductive
secondary to which the door may be affixed, and which will drive
the door in the open and closed direction in dependence upon
currents applied to the windings of the linear induction motor
primary. Utilizing a digital computer for generating the variable
phase motor current waveforms for driving a variable voltage,
variable frequency linear induction motor results in waveforms
which are only approximations of the pure sinusoidal waveforms that
produce optimum linear induction motor performance. Distortion in
digitally-produced waveforms result in acoustic noise and increased
motor heating. In the art, it has been known to utilize advanced
techniques to improve the current drives by means of closed loop
current control implemented through digital signal processing.
However, closed loop current control significantly increases the
complexity of the processing as well as the cost of the apparatus
itself.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
Objects of the invention include provision of a digital open
current loop control for an elevator door linear induction motor
which is not noisy, has low heat dissipation, and provides a
visually aesthetic, smooth door operation.
This invention is predicated in part on the fact that a given
elevator door, of a particular type, has a constant mass and
force/response characteristic. Therefore, it can be driven in an
open loop fashion while still resulting in an acceptable,
repetitive velocity profile.
According to the present invention, the voltage waveform used to
produce desired current in an open loop current drive for a linear
induction motor is enhanced to provide additional voltage
immediately after each zero crossing of the drive waveform.
According further to the invention, the voltage waveform is a
digitally generated, pulse width modulation approximation of a
sinusoidal waveform, and the pulse width of signals is increased
during a few cycles of pulse width modulation, following each zero
crossing. In further accord with the invention, an essentially
sinusoidal current is provided in a linear induction motor which is
driven open loop by pulse width modulated voltage, by means of
voltage pulse width adjustments following a zero crossing of the
sinusoidal waveform which are a significant fraction of the maximum
voltage pulse width applied to the windings of the linear induction
motor.
The invention permits driving a linear induction motor with a
voltage generated to obtain the desired winding current in the
linear induction motor, while ensuring that essentially the desired
current flows in the winding without the need of current feedback
sensors or controls. The invention thereby achieves smooth elevator
door operation without perceptible or visual or audible anomalies,
at a very low cost.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed
description of exemplary embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a simplified, partially broken away schematic diagram of
an elevator door operating system employing a linear induction
motor, according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the windings in the linear
induction motor of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a waveform of the current relationship of the three
windings in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a simplified waveform illustration of normal force and
linear force as a function of frequency and amplitude of the
current in the linear induction motor of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is a series of waveforms on related time bases, illustrating
pulse width modulation within control cycles.
FIGS. 6-9 are a logic flow diagram of a one millisecond interrupt
routine utilized within the computer of FIG. 1.
FIG. 10 is a logic flow diagram of a 64 microsecond interrupt
routine utilized in the computer of FIG. 1.
FIG. 11 is a logic flow diagram of a pulse width counter interrupt
routine for winding U, utilized in the computer of FIG. 1.
FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of the driver of FIG. 1,
including a filter, and its connections with the windings of the
linear motor of FIG. 1.
FIG. 13 is a diagram of slip frequency required to provide intended
force.
FIG. 14 is a simplified waveform illustrating boost in accordance
with the present invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIG. 1, an elevator door 17 is shown in solid
lines in the closed position and is shown in dotted lines in the
open position. The door 17 is fastened to a secondary 18 of a
linear induction motor, the primary 19 of which is secured to the
elevator car. In the example of this invention, the linear
induction motor primary 19 has six windings (FIG. 2) 20-25
connected in pairs --20, 21; 22, 23; 24, 25 -- so as to form three
windings U, V, W, each of which produces a north pole and a south
pole which are 180 electrical degrees apart, as shown by the
winding U. The windings are always driven in three phase
relationship, with the windings having phases 120.degree. apart
from each other. At a given point in time, such as that illustrated
in FIG. 3, the winding U may have a relatively small negative
current flowing therein at the same time that the winding V may
have nearly maximum current flowing therein and the winding W may
have an intermediate negative current flowing therein. There could
be multiple sets of six windings per set, as is known.
The secondary 18 generally comprises a conductive strip, within
which secondary currents are formed by a magnetic field, the
conductive strip having a magnetic backing (which may either move
with the door or be stationary on the building, as may suit any
implementation of the invention), to conduct magnetic flux between
the related poles of the linear motor primary (such as the poles
associated with windings 20 and 21). The secondary 18 may also have
an optical encoder strip disposed thereon (not shown) which may be
read by a photodetector 28 which provides pulses over a line 29 to
a computer 30. The number of pulses provided on the line 29 over a
fixed interval of time, which is one millisecond in this
embodiment, is indicative of the distance traveled in that time,
and therefore the velocity of the door, and the aggregation of
which is indicative of the current position of the door. As
described with respect to FIGS. 6-11, hereinafter, the computer 30
utilizes this information to derive a force command which will
achieve a desired velocity vs. position motion profile for the
door, and converts this to signals for selectively turning positive
and negative voltages on and off in a driver 31, which is described
more fully hereinafter with respect to FIG. 12. The voltages
provided by the driver 31 will result in the desired currents as
illustrated in FIG. 3.
As is known, a single sided linear induction motor cannot be
provided with a linear force (one which will move the secondary
from the left to the right as shown in FIG. 1, and the reverse
thereof) without an attendant normal force which can be two times
to five times greater than the linear force. The normal force just
causes the primary to act like any solenoid and attract the
magnetic material of the secondary toward the primary. In the art,
the linear force has typically been chosen to provide a desired
acceleration, by selecting the frequency and amplitude of
alternating current in the primary windings that will provide such
a desired result. The relationship between normal force and linear
force is set forth in FIG. 4, very crudely, for illustrative
purposes, as a function of frequency and amplitude of the currents
in the windings of the primaries. The selection of frequency and
amplitude that will provide the desired linear force, from among a
wide variety of combinations thereof which will do so, is generally
made to provide maximum electrical efficiency in the application in
which the linear induction motor is to be used.
FIG. 5 illustrates a typical sine wave of AC current which may be
used to drive a linear induction motor. As illustrated on the sine
wave, it has long been known to generate a sine wave synthetically
with stair steps, the magnitude of which is the average magnitude
of a sine wave during the period of the step. Also illustrated is
prior art pulse width modulation (P.W.M.) in which a constant
magnitude (equal to the greatest magnitude of the sine wave,
although not so illustrated in FIG. 5) is pulsed into the winding
for periods of time chosen to create an average magnitude across
the period of time (one millisecond herein) equal to the
corresponding stair step shown on the sine wave. In the embodiment
herein, instead of pulse widths that vary between 0 and 1
millisecond, pulse widths vary between 0 and 64 microseconds are
utilized, the same pulse width obtaining throughout an entire one
millisecond period. Thus, to create the approximate sine wave at
11.degree., during the second one millisecond period of a 50
millisecond, 20 Hertz driving current, 16 pulses of about 12
microseconds each will be provided as shown in the middle of FIG. 5
Similarly, at 195.degree., 16 pulses of negative voltage, each
having a 16 microsecond duration would be applied to a winding.
Thus, the current in the windings is achieved in the present
embodiment by applying a fixed amplitude voltage (which is
invariant throughout the life cycle of the apparatus according to
the invention) for periods of time in any one millisecond interval
which are a function of the desired current (and therefore force)
times the sine of the angle at the present point along a sinusoidal
drive command function, which is 120.degree.0 separated among the
three windings (as in FIG. 3). In the present embodiment, the
normal force may be utilized to offset a clockwise rotary torque
which a rightward force on the upper right corner of the door 17
will cause about the door's center of gravity, when the door begins
opening, by means of providing a proper vertical force toward the
linear induction motor primary 19 as a result of the normal force,
which is a counterclockwise torque about the center of gravity of
the door. All of this may be as is described in the aforementioned
prior copending U.S. patent application.
Referring now to FIG. 6, every millisecond, a real time interrupt
is provided to reach a one millisecond interrupt routine through an
entry point 34. A first test 35 determines if a ramp down flag has
been set or not. This is a flag which is set when the door has been
fully opened or fully closed and defines a period time in which the
remaining voltages are reduced in a slow downward ramp, so as to
avoid dropping the door, as described more fully with respect to
FIG. 9, hereinafter. Whenever the door has just been opened and
whenever the door has just been closed, the flag 35 might be set,
and therefore the result of the test 35 might be affirmative. But
most of the time, the flag will not be set and a negative result of
test 35 will reach a test 36 to determine if the door is fully
closed or not. As contemplated in this embodiment, the test 36 may
be based upon the normal elevator door physical switch which
indicates complete door closure; however, door position or any
other indicator of the door being completely closed could be
utilized, if desired. In a normal case, the elevator may be
somewhere else than at a landing, and the doors will be fully
closed. In such a case, an affirmative result of test 36 will reach
a test 37 to see if a door open command has been sent to the door
controller by the elevator controller. If the door is fully closed
(test 36) and there is no command to open the door (test 37), the
one millisecond interrupt routine of FIG. 6 ends, and the computer
may revert to other programming through a return point 38.
Eventually, the elevator will approach a landing and when it is
within the landing zone, the door open command will be provided to
the door controller and the result of test 37 will be affirmative.
This reaches a pair of steps 38, 39 which set a door opening flag
(utilized as described hereinafter) and initiate a 1.5 second
clock, which is used to determine when door operation should be
complete; in this embodiment, it is assumed that the door moves
about 55 cm and will be fully opened in about 1.4 seconds. Of
course, this timing must be adjusted in any case to suit the
particular door operating system in which the present invention is
utilized. The 1.5 second clock may be initiated for a 2.5 second
timeout during door closure; it is thus referred to as a 2.5 second
clock and as a 1.5/2.5 second clock herein.
The actual processing to formulate the commands and apply voltages
to the primary 19 begins with a step 42 in which the pulse count of
an encoder counter, which is advanced by the optical position
sensor pulses on the line 29 (FIG. 1), is memorized as a term
called "count"; then that counter is reinitialized immediately
thereafter in a step 43, to begin a new, one-millisecond count. A
step 44 calculates the average door velocity over the last
one-millisecond period of time, as a velocity constant (KV) times
the count. A step 45 determines the current position of the door by
adding an old position (the place where it was at the start of the
prior one millisecond period) to an appropriately adjusted
indication of the difference in position obtained during the
present one millisecond, which is a position constant (KP) times
the count. And then, the old position is updated to be equal to the
new position in a step 46, for use during the calculations in the
next one millisecond period. A subroutine 49 generates a velocity
command using a door opening constant (Ko), in a manner to cause a
velocity profile as a function of door position which is the same
as that in the aforementioned copending application. This profile
is shown superscribed over the leading edge of the door in FIG. 1.
In the usual fashion, the velocity error is taken in a step 50 to
be the difference between the calculated velocity command and the
present velocity (determined in step 44). Then, a force command is
generated as a proportional and integral function of the velocity
error in a subroutine 51, utilizing a proportional constant (Kp)
and an integral constant (Ki). The force command is processed
through a low pass washout filter subroutine 52 in a well-known
fashion, and the filtered result is multiplied in a step 53 by an
amplitude constant (Ka) to generate an amplitude factor indicative
of current amplitude required to achieve the desired linear force
in accordance with whichever relationship of amplitude and
frequency has been chosen (FIG. 4) to accelerate the linear motor
in the desired velocity. This amplitude is converted, in a step 54,
to a number indicating a pulse width representing (as in FIG. 5)
the desired current amplitude, by taking a proportional fraction of
the number 256 (of course other numbers could be used to determine
the resolution of processing, as desired).
As is known, the linear induction motor requires a magnetizing
current in order to establish fields to create secondary currents
in the conductive secondary 18. This is a fixed alternating current
for each winding U, V, W of the primary 19. This current is
electrically in quadrature with the linear force current and the
two are combined as the square root of the sum of the squares in a
subroutine 55. Since the magnetizing current amplitude is fixed,
and is the same in every performance of the one millisecond
interrupt routine, it can simply be a stored number, equivalent to
the pulse width magnitude number generated in the step 54,
resulting in a pulse width related number as the outflow from the
subroutine 55. In accordance with the invention, the magnitude of
the magnetizing current may be approximately one-quarter of the
magnetizing current typically utilized in the prior art to achieve
maximum electrical efficiency. In the present embodiment, this may
be expressed as a pulse width count of about 32. After the
subroutine 55 is completed, the program advances to a phase portion
thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 7, through a transfer point 56.
In FIG. 7, a first test 59 determines if the force-derived
amplitude, as a generated count in step 54 (FIG. 6), is equal to or
greater than 8. As seen in FIG. 13, this is the first break point
of a straight line approximation of desired slip frequency as a
function of force, which may ideally be as shown by the dotted
curve of FIG. 13. However, it has been determined that for elevator
door operation, the straight line approximation shown in solid line
in FIG. 13 is adequate. This merely simplifies the processing.
However, a table look-up or square root formula calculation of an
ideal current (dotted curve) could be used if desired in any
implementation of the present invention. If the P.W.M. value is not
equal to or greater than 8, the desired slip frequency is simply
the straight line slope of 4 Hertz per 8 counts, and is so
generated in a step 60. But if the count is greater than 8, an
affirmative result of test 59 reaches a test 61 to determine if the
count is equal to or greater than 128. If it is, an affirmative
result of test 61 reaches a step 62 to simply generate slip
frequency as 18 Hertz. But if the count is between 8 and 128, a
negative result of test 161 reaches a step 63 in which the slip
frequency is set equal to 4 Hertz plus the slope times the P.W.M.
minus 8 counts. This follows the solid line of FIG. 13.
The slip frequency so generated is the frequency of slip between
the secondary and the primary of the linear induction motor which
is necessary in order to create the attractive force that will move
the secondary under the primary in the desired fashion, as is
known. Such a frequency created in the primary will not, once the
door is moving, be effective because of the door motion itself. In
other words, the phase change required to create force must be in
addition to that which results from motion of the secondary with
respect to the primary. To accommodate this situation, a phase
factor related to the relative velocity between the secondary and
the primary is generated in a step 67 as a velocity constant (Kv)
times the velocity, ratioed to 60 electrical degrees per unit of
space between the windings, which in an exemplary embodiment may be
on the order of 16 millimeters. A slip frequency phase is generated
from the relationship of 360.degree. per cycle, in a step 68. The
total phase is then taken in a step 69 as the sum of the phases
generated in the steps 67 and 68. The actual phase which is to be
achieved during the present cycle is the summation of the phase
previously achieved along the sine wave of FIG. 5) together with
the current total phase requirement, which is established in a step
70. And then the present phase of step 70 is saved for the next
one-millisecond interrupt processing cycle in a step 71.
As described with respect to FIG. 3 hereinbefore, the phase for the
three windings are related in the same fashion in each instance.
The phase generated in step 70 is taken in a step 73 to be the
phase of winding U (arbitrarily); any other relationship could be
used if desired. Then a test 74 determines if the force on the door
should be positive or negative (opening or closing) as a function
of the sign of the amplitude of step 53. If the door is opening, so
the amplitude is positive (in the convention herein), then the
phase of windings V and W are established in steps 75 and 76 as
being 120.degree. and 240.degree. advanced, in the convention of
the present embodiment. On the other hand, if the door is closing
and the force is negative, a negative result of test 74 will cause
windings V and W to be -120.degree. and -240.degree. retarded from
phase U, respectively. And then a portion of the 1 millisecond
interrupt routine which relates to winding U, in FIG. 8, is reached
through a transfer point 79.
In FIG. 8, the phase of winding U is normalized to be between 0 and
359.degree. by virtue of a test 84 and a step 85. Then a pulse
width for winding U is established in a step 86 as the AC amplitude
of step 55 (which is expressed as a pulse width count) times the
sine of the phase for winding U (as described hereinbefore with
respect to FIG. 4), (in a step 86).
In FIG. 14, the AC driving current for winding U is shown in a
solid curve. According to the invention, it has been learned that,
for whatever reason (possibly related to adjacent pole fields and
magnetic hysteresis), a crossover from positive to negative halves
of the sine wave of a driving voltage, as well as from negative to
positive halves of the sine wave of a driving voltage, results in a
current lag, unless it is compensated for by closed-current-loop
control. In the present embodiment, there is no current feedback
indicative of the actual current in the motor, and therefore there
can be no correction for the current lag which occurs at zero
crossings. Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, the
current lags are essentially eliminated by providing a voltage
boost in the first few cycles immediately following each crossover
throughout the door opening operation and throughout the door
closing operation. To achieve this, the zero crossings are sensed,
and a flag is set; for the next several cycles, some fraction of
the maximum amplitude is applied by adding equivalent counts to the
pulse width during those few cycles.
In FIG. 8, a test 87 determines if the zero crossing flag has been
set or not. Except in the few cycles following a crossover, the
flag will not have been set so a negative result reaches a test 88
to determine if the trigonometric sine of the phase for winding U
is a positive or negative number. If it is a positive number, an
affirmative result of test 88 reaches a test 89 to determine if the
phase of the U winding had a positive sine in a next prior
one-millisecond cycle. If it did, that means that there has not
been a zero crossover, so a number of steps are bypassed. But if
the prior cycle had a negative sine, which would be true at the
point 90 of FIG. 14, then there is a negative result of test 89
which will reach a step 91 to set the zero crossing flag, a step 92
to set a U counter equal to zero (for counting the few cycles that
the boost signal is applied), and a step 93 where the sine of the
phase for the U winding is remembered for use in the next cycle
(sine phase U old).
Then the boost number for winding U is generated in a step 98 as a
fraction raised to an exponent times some count, KB, which may be a
significant fraction of a typical maximum amplitude, such as a
count of between 60 and 90, or perhaps a count of 75 in the present
embodiment. The fraction is the number of cycles that boost is to
be applied, which is five in this embodiment, although the number
may vary from four to eight or so, minus the setting of the U
counter (initialized at zero in the step 92). The exponent (kb) may
be one, or it may be some other number between 1/2 and 2, as is
deemed appropriate in any implementation of the present invention.
What is necessary is to devise the parameters for the step 98 in
such a fashion so that the current in the windings will in fact be
very close to sinusoidal. Once the boost factor is generated in the
step 98, the value of the U counter is incremented in a step 99.
Then a test 100 determines if the U counter has been advanced to a
setting of 6, or not. In the first cycle after a zero crossing, it
will not be set to 6, and a negative result of test 100 will reach
a step 101 in which the pulse width value for the U winding
(established in step 86) has added thereto the value of boost
calculated in the step 98. As seen in FIG. 14, during the first
millisecond after a zero crossing, the boost value will be the full
value of KB e.g., a count of 75, unless the exponent (Kb) is less
than one. In the second millisecond cycle following the crossover,
the fraction of step 98 will be 4/5; in the third cycle 3/5, and so
forth until in the fifth cycle, the fraction is 0. Then the U
counter is incremented in step 99 to 6, so an affirmative result of
test 100 will reach a step 102 where the zero crossing flag is
reset. This allows the program to again be looking for zero
crossings in the tests 88-90, as described hereinbefore. Then a
subroutine 103 for winding V, and a subroutine 104 for winding W,
each of which is the same as the steps and tests 84-102 described
with respect to winding U, are performed. When this is complete, a
ramp down portion of the one millisecond interrupt routine is
reached in FIG. 9 through a transfer point 105.
In FIG. 9, a first test 107 determines if a door closed flag has
been set or not. This flag is only set when the door has just been
closed. Assuming that the flag is not set, a negative result of
test 107 reaches a test 108 to see if the 1.5/2.5 second clock has
timed out or not. In the general case, as the door is opening, it
will not have timed out, so the end of the one millisecond
interrupt routine is reached and other programming is reverted to
through a return point 110. Although the door has been opened or
whenever the door has been closed, 1 1/2 seconds after initiation
after the opening or the closing cycle (FIG. 6) the 1.5/2.5 second
clock will time out and an affirmative result of test 109 will
reach a step 111 which set the ramp down flag and a series of steps
112-114 in which the pulse width values for windings U, V and W are
decremented by one count. The ramp down flag is used in page 6 to
determine that the bulk of the one millisecond interrupt routine
should be bypassed, as described hereinbefore. After decrementing,
each of the pulse width values are tested to see if they are
reduced to zero in a series of steps 115-117. If any of the values
is non-zero, a negative result will cause the return point 110 to
be reached.
In the next following one millisecond interrupt, the routine will
be entered at entry point 34 of FIG. 6. Because the ramp down flag
has been set in step 111 as a result of the 1.5 second time out, an
affirmative result of test 35 will reach the transfer point 105 in
FIG. 6 so that the ramp down portion of the one millisecond
interrupt routine in FIG. 9 is reached directly. Since the 1.5/2.5
second clock will always be in a time out condition except when it
is counting through a door moving period, test 109 will continue to
be affirmative reaching the steps 111-114 where the ramp down flag
is redundantly set (without any harm) and the pulse widths are once
again decremented. Again the tests 115-117 determine if all the
pulse widths have been reduced to zero or not. Initially, they may
not thereby reaching the return point 110.
In a subsequent one millisecond interval, the one millisecond
interrupt routine is again reached in FIG. 6 through the entry
point 34, and an affirmative result of the test 35 will again jump
the program to the ramp down transfer point 105 and again reach the
test 109.
No matter what the values may have in them at the end of 1.5
seconds, they will certainly be reduced to zero within 256
milliseconds because the maximum count used in this embodiment is
always less than 256. At some point in time (generally within a few
cycles after the 1.5 second timeout), all of the pulse width values
will be reduced to zero so a series of affirmative results of the
tests 114-116 will reach a test 120 which determines if the door is
opening or not by testing the door opening flag set in step 38. If
the door has been opening, the flag is set and an affirmative
result of test 120 reaches a step 121 to reset the door opening
flag and a step 122 to set a door open flag. The door open flag
indicates that the door is open and will remain so until a door
close command is received from the elevator controller, as
described more fully hereinafter. Because there is no longer any
need to ramp down the counts in the steps 112-114, a step 123 will
reset the ramp down flag, and a step 124 will reset a door close
flag (the purpose of which is described hereinafter), redundantly,
but with no harm. Then, the computer reverts to other programming
through the return point 110.
Once the ramp down flag is reset in the step 123, the next time
that the one millisecond interrupt occurs, a negative result of
tests 35, 36 and 109 will reach a test 127 to see if the door open
flag is set. Since it has been set in step 122, the routine will
look for a door close command in a test 128. While the door is open
and passengers are transferring in and out (for some period of time
determined by the elevator controller as well as the door open
button within the elevator car), there will be no door close
command so a negative result of test 128 will cause other
programming to be reverted to through a return point 129.
Eventually, the elevator controller will command that the door be
closed and the next one millisecond interrupt will find an
affirmative result of test 128 and thereby reach a step 130 which
will reset the door open flag and a step 131 which will initiate
the 2.5 second clock. This is the beginning of a door closing
operation. The door closing may take 2 plus seconds due to the
requirement to limit the total inertia of the door, when closing,
for safety reasons, as is known. So long as the door is closing, in
each cycle a test 132 is reached to determine if a passenger has
caused a door reversal, by interrupting the light beam between the
two doors, operating a safety shoe, or the like. If a door reversal
has occurred, the door closing operation is aborted at whatever
stage it may be in, and a door opening operation is initiated.
Regardless of where the door happens to be, whenever a reversal
occurs, the signal processing described hereinbefore with respect
to FIGS. 6-8 for a door opening operation will be carried out. This
poses no problem at all since the routine is a position loop, and
it will pick up the closing operation at the position in which the
door is in. There may be some large incremental phases, velocity
error and the like, but this will simply result in the processing
quickly recovering into a proper door opening routine.
If there is no door reversal, a negative result of test 132 will
reach a series of steps 135-139 which are the same as steps 42-46
except for the fact that the velocity and the incremental position
are negative (heading in the closing direction). A subroutine 140
generates a negative velocity command as a function of a closing
constant (Kc) and the difference between maximum position and
current position, otherwise similar to the subroutine 49. Then the
steps and subroutines 50-55 are performed as before to come up with
the desired AC amplitude, expressed as a count representative of
pulse width.
In FIG. 7, the same steps and tests 59-73 are performed as in the
door opening operation described hereinbefore since these are not
direction sensitive. Then the test 74 determines that the amplitude
of step 53 is not positive, and a negative result of test 74
reaches the steps 77, 78 to generate the phase for windings V and W
as being -120.degree. and -240.degree. from the phase of winding
U.
In FIG. 8, the steps and tests 84-102 and the subroutines 103 and
104 are the same in the closing direction as described hereinbefore
with respect to the opening direction. In the first pass through
FIG. 9, the door closed flag 107 will not be set since the door is
simply starting to close and has not become closed as yet. The
1.5/2.5 second timeout will not have occurred so a negative result
of test 108 causes other programming to be reverted to through the
return point 110.
In the next one millisecond period, the one millisecond interrupt
program is reached in FIG. 6 through the entry point 34. In this
case, affirmative results of all of the tests 35, 36, 109 and 127
will cause the test 132 to be reached to determine if there is a
reversal or not. Assuming there is no reversal, the one millisecond
interrupt routine will be performed as before. This will continue
to occur until, finally, the 1.5/2.5 second clock times out, as
indicated by an affirmative result of test 108 in FIG. 9. Then, the
ramp down flag will be set in step 111 and the decrementing and
testing of the pulse width values for the three windings will occur
in the steps 112-114 and tests 115-117. Some number of cycles after
the 1.5/2.5 second clock has timed out, the pulse widths will have
been reduced to zero, so an affirmative result of the tests 115-117
will reach the test 120. In this case, since the door is closing,
the door opening flag is not set and a negative result will reach a
step 143 which sets a door closed flag. This flag is used in this
particular embodiment simply to allow synchronism between the
routine of FIG. 9 and a physical switch, common on all elevators,
which indicates that the door is fully closed. The setting of that
switch is determined in a test 144. In subsequent passes through
the one millisecond interrupt routine, the ramp down flag (FIG. 6)
and door closed flag (test 107, FIG. 9) will reach the test 144. If
the physical switch has not yet been closed, a negative result of
test 143 will reach the return point 110. Eventually, the door
fully closed switch will be closed and an affirmative result of
test 144 will reach the steps 123, 124 where the ramp down flag is
reset and the door closed flag (set in step 143) is also reset.
Notice that the fact that the door closed flag is also reset at the
end of a door opening operation is irrelevant.
The one millisecond interrupt routine has generated two numbers for
each of the windings U, V and W. One of these numbers is the pulse
width generated in step 86 and perhaps augmented in step 101, of
FIG. 8, and the other of these numbers is the phase, which is
normalized by steps and tests 84, 85 in FIG. 8. The phases are used
in generating the pulse widths, so all that remains to be used
relative to phase is the sign of the trigonometric sine of the
phase, to determine if the motor winding is to be driven with a
positive or negative half cycle of the driving sine wave.
In FIG. 10, a 64 microsecond interrupt routine is reached through
an entry point 145, and a series of steps 146-148 set respective
counters of the U, V and W windings to the pulse width generated in
steps 86 and 101 for the respective winding. Then, the sign of the
trigonometric sine of the phase of the U winding is tested in a
test 149. If the sign is positive, this means that a positive
voltage should be applied to the U winding, (20, 21, FIG. 2) of the
primary 19 (FIG. 1) of the linear induction motor. This is achieved
by a step 150 which connects a source of fixed, positive voltage
(FIG. 12) on a line 152 through a suitable switch 153 to an input
terminal 154 (related to the U winding) of a filter 155. On the
other hand, if test 149 determines that the sign of the sine of the
phase for the U winding is not positive, then a step 156 will be
reached to cause application of a fixed, negative voltage from a
source 157 through a switch 158 to the terminal 154. Similarly,
tests and steps 161-166 in FIG. 10 will cause positive or negative
voltage to be applied from the sources on lines 152, 157,
respectively, to additional terminals 169, 170 of the filter 155,
through switches 171-174. In FIG. 10, when all counters have been
set and three switches turned on, other programming is reverted to
through a return point 175.
The filter 155 is interposed (in this embodiment) between the
switches 153, 158, 171-174 and the windings 20-25 of the linear
induction motor primary 19. The filter consists of three capacitors
177-179, connected, in delta configuration, across pairs of
windings (U, V; V, W; W, U). Between each switch and the
corresponding windings, a choke 180-182 prevents the capacitors
177-179 from representing short circuits across the switches 153,
158, 171-174. The capacitors and chokes of the filter 155 are so
selected as to represent a low pass filter which significantly
attenuates frequencies above about 140 Hertz; this break point
frequency is chosen since frequencies below 140 Hertz are not
audible to humans. The filter 155 filters out harmonics of the
basic door current frequency, which is shown in FIG. 5 as 20 Hertz,
but which may range between 0 and 24 Hertz in a normal application
of the present invention.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, each winding is given, within any one
millisecond period, a series of about 16 pulses, each having a
pulse width indicative of the amplitude of the sine wave applicable
to the particular winding. The timing of these pulse widths is
achieved simply by the fact that the U, V and W counters, which are
set to the correct pulse width in steps 146-148 of FIG. 10, are
decremented, and when they are reduced to zero, each will cause a
related interrupt, such as the U counter interrupt for the U
winding illustrated in FIG. 11. Whenever the pulse width is
complete for the U winding, the U counter will cause the related
interrupt to be reached in FIG. 11 through an entry point 185, and
all that happens is that a pair of steps 186, 187 will turn off the
plus U switch 153 and the minus U switch 158 (regardless of which
one was on), and then cause other programming to be reverted to
through a return point 188. Similar counter interrupt routines are
provided (not shown) for the V winding and the W winding.
In the present embodiment, the sinusoidal current which should flow
in the windings of the linear induction motor is expressed in terms
of a voltage waveform which comprises pulses, all having the same
maximum magnitude, but the width of which is indicative of the
maximum sinusoidal magnitude times the sine of the angle of the
point along the sinusoid. The voltage waveform could be pulse width
modulation of a similar sort but at a significantly different
frequency, even at 50 Hertz, corresponding to the one millisecond
control intervals herein. The voltage waveform could also be a pure
sinusoidal waveform, if desired, and still the present invention
could be utilized to enhance open current loop operation of a
variable voltage, variable frequency linear induction motor
elevator car door system. In the present embodiment, the additional
voltage component utilized to enhance the nature of current flowing
in the windings is an additional digital width component, herein
referred to as "boost" which is applied to all of the pulse widths
in each control cycle. The additional voltage component could be a
pure voltage magnitude in a system utilizing pure sinusoidal
voltage to achieve sinusoidal current in the windings, or it could
be an additional pulse width component of any suitable sort in
other embodiments.
The foregoing is a simplified description of physical arrangements
and logical and arithmetic functions which may be utilized to
practice the present invention. The logic flow diagrams should not
be taken to be literal equivalents of computer software to be used
in implementing the invention, but rather as illustrative of one
exemplary embodiment which may be implemented with well-known
programming techniques. The present invention has been described
with respect to particular exemplary numbers and values for the
purposes of illustration, merely. Obviously, embodiments utilizing
other numbers and values may be implemented as desired to maximize
the benefit of use of the present invention in any particular
embodiment thereof. In some instances, table lookup may be utilized
instead of calculations at several points in the routines disclosed
herein, all in an obvious fashion. The invention has been described
as used with a linear induction motor having vertical poles in the
primary, and with a horizontal secondary disposed beneath the
primary. This invention is also useful with other types of linear
induction motors, such as one which has horizontal poles and a
secondary which is displaced horizontally from the primary.
Thus, although the invention has been shown and described with
respect to exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood
by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other
changes, omissions and additions may be made therein and thereto,
without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *